Ingot-mold.



C. R. STEWART & G. E. THACKRAYr INGOT MOLD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.19.1914.

Patented. July 31, 1917.

12 IIVVEIVTORS 6103221012. 1522104222, aka/ya E JAM/$12 1 ,dw ATTOUNITED STATES PATENT onnron.

cnm'ron' B. s'rnwm'r, or JOHNSTOWN, AND enonen n. rnAcKnAY, or wns'rmonrBonoUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

INGOT-MOLD'.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 19, 1914. Serial No. 825,802.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat we, CLINTON R. STEWART,

a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Johnstown,county of Cambria, and State of Pennsylvania, and GEORGE E. THACKRAY, acitizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Westmont, inthe county of Cambria and State of'Pensylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Ingot-Molds; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

Our invention relates to an improved construction of ingot moldsincluding a top portion of non-conducting refractory material of such acharacter as to maintain the heat of molten steel or other metal,whereby the part of the ingot adjacent thereto is maintained in a moltencondition longer than the other portions, which other portions areadjacent to, or in contact with the conducting portion of the ingot molditself, which is made of iron, steel or other metal. By this means wemaintain the metal in the upper portion of the mold in such a conditionof fluidityor plasticity, that as the ingot cools, the molten metal inthe upper or sink-head portion feeds the shrinkage which would otherwisecause a hole or socalled pipe. The pipe or opening is therefore formedonly in the sink-head portion,

which is preferably of lesser diameter than the mold, and whichsink-head portion can be rejected'and thrown away without any materialloss, as it forms a very small percentage of the' entire ingot.

Having thus given a general description of our invention, we will now,in order to make the matter more clear, refer-to the accompanying sheetof drawingsin which like characters of reference indicate like partsFigure 1 is a vertical cross section of a metalingot mold and stoolfitted with a refractory and non-conducting upper option.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the orm of our non-conducting refractory.top shown in Fig. 1, this view showing the beveled joints between thesections thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of another form of ourrefractory top.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of thenon-conducting refractory top shown inFig. 2, the

oints between the sections of the same being shown as rabbeted or offsetas indicated.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a clamp band secured together by a boltprovided with a slotted hole and a wedge inserted therein.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of another form of securing the bands by meansof a horseshoe clamp.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of an integrally formed band illustrated in Fig.3.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view ofour nonconducting refractory top showing arabbeted joint of slightly different arrangement from that of Fig. l. Inthis arrangement the pieces composing the top are all of simi larpatterns and may either be made all of the same size, or of differentsizes, to provide a square or rectangular opening for a sinkhead of anygiven size or proportions.

The upper non-conducting portions of the mold may be composed of brick,fire-brick, or dry sand, either with or without an admixture ofpreferably fibrous mineral materials, such as asbestos. The refractoryor non-conducting top may be made ofa comparatively cheap qualityoffire-brick which is composed of ordinary fire clays and otherrefractory materials, molded, dried and then burned to provide thenecessary coherence.

Referring now to the characters of reference.on the drawings The metalingot mold is indicated as l, the top or lifting lugs thereon areindicated as 2, the bottom or holding down lugs are indicated as-3, thestool on which the ingot mold and ingot set is indicated as 4 and 5indicates the body of'the ingot itself.

The form of the non-conductingrefractory top illustrated in Fig. 1 isindicated as 6, the sections of which are provided with lateral-projections or flanges 7, and with other downwardly projecting flangesor portions 8 which extend slightly into the upper portion of the moldas shown. 9 indicates a slight space or opening between the flan 8 andthe upper portion of the inside of t e ingot mold, which space orclearance is provided to insure that the refractory top will fit in themold despite slight irregularities in either, and this space may, or maynot, e

filled with clay, loam or other material. As, however, this space issmall and the conducting surface of the top of the ingot mold isadjacent thereto, the steel or other metal from which the ingot isformed will not ordinarily flow into this space, but will be outersurface of the refractory non-conducting top, or the outer surfaces ofsaid top may be slightly tapered upwardly, in which case a solid bandmay be driven thereon, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The ends of the metal band 11 are indicated as 12, being bent outwardlyfrom the body portion thereof, as shown, and secured together by the keybolts 13 and the keys 14.

- The illustration of Fig. 5 is a side view of the clamp band, similarto that otherwise illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The metal clamp band 11is made in halves, the ends of each half being bent outwardly from thebody portion and provided with holes, as illustrated. After the bricksare assembled as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the clamp bands are putaround them with the outstanding portions 12 adjacent, bolts 13 arepassed through the holes in the outstandin clamp bands, and the key 14inserted an driven home; thus drawing the halves of the band tightlytogether and holding the bricks in their proper relative positions.

As shown in Fig. 2,- the non-conducting refractory top is shown ascomposed of four pieces provided with beveled joints 15-on the corners.I

An alternate form of clamp band is illustrated in Fig. 6, in which ahorseshoe clamp indicated as 16.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4 the nonconducting refractory top isindicated gen-- erally as 17, composed-of four pieces as shown, thisbeing provided with laterally projecting seat portions 18 adapted torest on top of the mold, and with downwardly projecting flange portions19 extendin slightly into the upper portion of the mold as shown. Aslight space 20 is provided between the downwardly .projecting flanges19 and the adjacent surface of the upper portion of the mold as shown,which space or clearance is similar to that previously described as 9.The sections of the non-conducting refractory top shown in Fig. 3 areprovided with rabbeted or offset joints 21 and 22 as shown in Fig. 4',this upper portion-being. shown as composed of four sections securedtogether by an integral band 23. The outer portions of this form of topare slightly tapering as shown, so, that the integral band can be driventhereon without the need of any further special holding or clampingmeans.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, 2& indicates the opening or pipe formed inthe sink-head portion of the mold, which is confined to that portion bythe action of our refractory non-conducting top as herein described.-The sink-head portion can be left on the ingot as it is rolled, or itcan be cut ofl beforehand, if desired, leaving a solid ingot from whlchto produce first class material.

It should be noted that the individual pieces composing the top, asshown in Fig. 4, are of substantially the same pattern, although thisarrangement may be varied without departing from our invention.

The bricks composing the refractory nonconducting top, shown in Fig. 8,are indicated as 25and rabbeted joints between the various pieces areindicated as 26 and 27.

It should be noted that the, metal ingot mold 1 is shown of tapered formwith the small end down and our refractory nonconducting top seton theupper and larger end thereof, but we also wish it understood that ourconstruction is equally adapted for use on the smaller end of an ingotmold which is set with its larger end downward. After molten metal ispoured into and fills the mold and substantially fills thenon-conducting top portion, after a short interval, a further quantityof molten metal may be suppliedthereto before that therein has becomeset, in order to feed the shrinkage and lessen the cavity. The ingot ispreferably kept vertical and may be withdrawn from the mold, or the moldwithdrawn from it, in various ways unnecessary to mention 1 herein.After the ingot and the mold are separated the ingot may be charged intoan upright soaking-pit furnace, and with the refractory top thereon, inwhich case it would be preferable to remove the metal band, leaving therefractory non-conducting material on the top. This will keep-the topportion hot and permit the shrinkage cavity to form wholly within thesame, thus making the body of the ingot solid.

The top construction is such that it may be used many times before ithas become worn or broken; its life is increased and it is economicallymade on account of its sectional character.

If preferred, we may remove the refractory top from the ingotbeforecharging the ingot into the upright soaking-pit furnace, providing itswork has been accomplished by that time. f

As shown in the various illustrations, the individual pieces ofrefractory material or bricks which compose our ingot top afe madesubstantially flat or straight, particularly on their inner surfaces andjoined together at their edges adjacent to the-corners of the mold by abeveled or rabbeted joint. Owing 1 camera to this form of construction,when the molten metal is poured into the top portion and heats the same,due to the very high temperature of the metal, the pieces of refractorymaterial, due to natural laws, will ex-' of prolonging the life of a topof this character, so that it may be used many times.

A refractory brick made to inclose a rectangle with joints at the sidesthereof, the

individual bricks being provided with reentr'ant angles, is a difficultform to make, which will ,even crack when drying after being molded andpreparatory to burning,

. and will crack further in the corners when burning, causing a largeamount of waste I and rejections. In addition to this, a brick ofthischaracter when subjected to the heat of molten metal, as abovedescribed, will crack irregularly in the reentrant angles and becomesuseless after having been used only once. All of these difiiculties areobviated by our simple forms of refractory material or equivalentsthereof, as are embraced within the scope, of our invention, or aspointed out in the claims. l

Having thus described our invention, What we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:, 1. An ingot mold top composed of similar sectionsof refractory non-conducting.

material-joinedtogether at their edges adjacent to the mold corners andforming the entire upper portion of the mold.

" 2. An ingot moldtop composed of lar sections of refractornon-conducting material bevel jointed together at their edges adjacentto the mold corners and forming the entire upper portion of the mold.

3. An ingot mold top composed of similar sections of refractorynon-conducting material, joined at their end edges, forming the entireupper portion of the mold, anda clamp band surrounding said sections,adapted to hold them together.

4. A mold top composed of similar sec-' tions ofrefractorynon-conducting material each section forming one side of theupper portion of the mold,/thereby providing an opening at the upperportion thereof, surrounded by said material.

5. A top for ingot molds comprised of sections of refractorynbn-conducting material, joined at their end edges, forming the hollowupper portion of the mold, said sections being provided with laterallyextending seat portions adapted to rest on the topof the mold, anddownwardly extending clamp band, surrounding said sections adapted tohold them togetherf 6. The combination; with av metal ingot mold of aseparate top portion mounted thereon, comprised of sections ofrefractory non-conducting material jointed together at their end edges,forming the hollow upper part of the mold, said sections being providedwith laterally extending seat portions, ,and downwardly extendingflanges, said flanges being arranged to project within the upper portionof the inside of the metal mold, and an adjustable clamp bandsurrounding said sections adapted to hold them together. 7. Thecombination with an ingot mold, of a feeder I'GStlIlgOlLtll top of themold and formed in foursections joined atthe corners, each of saidsections having a downwardly projecting flange or bead at the baseextending into the mold, and adjustable means for holding the feedersections in close contact with each other;

In testimony whereof we hereto afiix our signatures in the presence oftwo witnesses.

CLINTON R. STEWART. GEORGE E. THAOKRAY. 'Witnesses: k j

. CYRIL A. RIEVEL,

Emma S mvnr.

